Fullmetal Babysitter
by psychotic7796
Summary: Hughes needs someone to watch his beloved daughter Elysia for the night. Who would have guessed that Edward Elric was so good with kids? One-shot!


A/N- My friend just got me started on Fullmetal Alchemist and it is slowly worming it's way into my favorite animes. *Grin* I got this idea after the episode where Ed, Al, and Nina help Hughes' wife give birth to their daughter and I was like, "How would Ed be around REALLY young children?" And your instinctive answer would be, "He'd be annoyed with them, duh!" But then I was like, "Wait... What if he totally ADORED tiny little children?" And then that started this idea and I was like, "OMG ED AND ELYSIA PLAYING DINOSAURS!" and it evolved into this short story. XD (By the way, I wasn't sure if in Fullmetal Alchemist if they had video cameras or not, but let's say for the sake of the ending part of this story that YES, VIDEO CAMERAS ARE IN FMA TIMES! XD )

"Please, Hawkeye!" Maes Hughes pleaded, on his knees and begging. "Gracia has to go to her mother's house and I have a case that I need to work on-"

"For the last time, no! I will not babysit your daughter! I have work to do also!" Hawkeye growled, slapping him across the head.

Hughes knew better then to question her again and he ran through his options. Roy Mustang was out, he was ALWAYS working and he didn't want to traumatize his poor Elysia. Armstrong had already said no...Havoc was going out with friends that night...  
Hughes, as a last ditch attempt, turned to the youngest alchemist in the office.

"Ed, could you babysit Elysia for the night?" He begged, once again on his knees, bracing himself for the famous Edward-temper everyone had gotten used to over the past few years.

Edward looked up from the book he was reading and, completely surprising everyone in hearing distance, nodded.

"Sure, Hughes. Where and when?"

Hughes gaped for a split second before tackling Edward and repeatedly thanking him.

"Get off!" Edward growled, shoving off the other man roughly. "Or I might change my dang mind!"

Edward tried to pay attention to what Hughes was saying, but it was hard when he was also handing him multiple pieces of paper with lists written on them of what to do and what not to do with his daughter.

"Alright! These have everything you need on them, now Elysia, be good to Edward and listen to what he says unless it's something stupid, alright? Daddy will be home tonight!" Hughes ran off before Edward could even blink.

The teen looked down and saw a small, three-year-old girl standing there in the doorway, looking up at him shyly.

Edward gave her a bright grin and said, "Hey there, chibi. I'm Edward, I'll be watching you for the night."

Elysia shyly smiled up at him but it was stopped by a shiver that wracked her body. Edward frowned and sighed. "It's getting cold out, and it looks like it's going to snow. We better get you inside before you get sick. Your dad would be extremely p-angry with me if you got sick while I was watching you." He quickly corrected himself, knowing that small children repeated odd words they had never used before. Hughes would murder him if he came home to his daughter swearing like himself...

Edward closed the door behind them and looked around.

The house was pretty simple, though it was obviously well-taken care of. It was clean and nice, the walls and carpet white and the furniture a warm brown.

Edward looked down as Elysia grabbed his hand and tugged him in the direction of the living room.

"We're going to play with my dinosaurs." Elysia announced to Edward happily, already warming up to the blond-haired teen. "You can be this one." She handed him the red long-neck dinosaur, while she took the pink t-rex.

"Okay. What's this one's name?" Edward asked, amusement in his face and eyes.

"Um..." Elysia thought deeply before answering, "Apple!"  
"Apple the dinosaur," Edward bit back the urge to laugh as he asked, "Then, let me guess...Is yours Strawberry?"

"No, silly!" Elysia pouted. "This is Paul! Where did you get Strawberry from?" She asked, making him sound as if he were stupid.

"My mistake, chibi. So what are the dinosaurs doing?" Edward asked, looking at the red dinosaur in his gloved hand.

Elysia once again looked at him as if he were stupid. "They're going on an adventure, of course. Geez, haven't you played dinosaurs before?" She scolded him and Edward bit back laughter again.

"Sorry, Elysia. It's been a long time since I've played with them." Edward told her with a grin.

Elysia shrieked with laughter as Edward picked her up and swung her around, laughing also.

"You cheated!" He accused her playfully. "Your dinosaur is no match for Apple, the great Long-Neck Alchemist!"

"Nuh-uh!" She shook her head, giggling as he swung her around more. "The Tiny-Armed Alchemist Paul beats all!"

"Oh really?" He raised an eyebrow and without warning he began tickling her, causing her to shriek with laughter.

Edward stopped though when the phone rang.

"Hello, Hughes' household." He said as Elysia hugged his leg, trying to tug him back to their game.

"Ed? It's Maes." Edward frowned at the tired tone his fellow military worker had.

"You okay, Hughes? You're soundin' sorta beat." Edward commented.

"Look outside, Ed. It's a giant storm out there and it's gonna take me awhile to get home." Hughes sighed heavily as Edward looked out and winced.

He had been right about the snow. Snow was falling heavily from the ground, and from the looks of it, Hughes wouldn't be home for awhile.

"Don't worry, Hughes. Elysia's doing fine and your house isn't burnt down... Yet." Edward smirked at the end and he could almost see Hughes' face pale.

"Edward Elric, if you burn any part of my house or daughter then-"

Edward yelped as his legs were pulled out from under him by a sneaky little girl who grabbed the phone.

"Hi Daddy! My aniki is SO much fun! He actually plays dinosaurs right, unlike the old babysitter!" She babbled into the phone.

"Does he now?" Hughes voice had a teasing tint to it and Edward felt dread pool in his stomach at the jokes he would probably go through.

Elysia nodded and said brightly, "MM-HM! Plus he promised he'd have a tea party with me after dinner if I ate all of my vegetables and drank all of my milk!"

"I see..." Hughes' voice trailed off and Edward's eye twitched. He was never going to live this down.

"Yeah! He's fun Daddy! Can aniki come over and play with me more often?" Elysia babbled.

"We'll see, honey. Could you put Edward back on the phone now? I'll be home as soon as I can." He promised.

"Okay Daddy! Aniki! Here's the phone!" She handed the phone to Edward, who had stood up after being tackled to the ground.

"No tackling me, chibi." Edward scolded her lightly before turning his voice to the phone. "How long until you'll be back, Hughes?"

"Probably not until tomorrow morning if I drive through the entire night. Help yourself to the phone and fridge. You might want to call Al and tell him what's going on." Hughes reminded Edward, who sighed.

"Yeah, I'll do that now. See you, Hughes. Don't get in a car accident."

With that they both hung up, and Edward turned to Elysia. "Ready for dinner, chibi?"

She beamed and nodded, dragging him into the kitchen.

Edward looked around and was relieved when he saw that Elysia's mother Gracia had pre-made dinner for them and all he had to do was heat it up.

Edward would never admit it to ANYONE who asked, but he was actually enjoying himself with Elysia.

He had promised her a tea party, and a tea party they had. Sipping imaginary tea, Edward had been multiple people, changing his voice to dramatic proportions to make Elysia giggle in delight. Sometimes he had a high-pitched voice with a British accent, and other times he had a low, overly dramatic voice with a snooty tone to it. Elysia loved it.

"You're a good play-person, aniki!" Elysia giggled, hugging Edward around his waist.

Edward looked at the time and winced when he saw it was nearly midnight. Hughes would kill him for keeping her up that late. He let out a silent sigh of relief when he saw that Elysia was already yawning.

"How about I read you a story before you go to bed? Your dad will be mad if you're not in bed soon." Edward said, picking her up and carrying her to her room.

"Okay!"

The next two hours were spent with Elysia begging Edward to read her more stories, which he did with only slight reluctance.

By four in the morning, Elysia was asleep, her head on Edward's chest, and Edward's head was leaning back as he slept on.

Hughes walked into his house, shivering slightly as he smacked snow off of his body and hair. He looked around and let out a breath of relief when he saw his house wasn't completely destroyed. Actually... It was clean!

He looked around suspiciously. Edward Elric was known for how many things he destroyed unintentionally, and it was hard to believe that his house had been spared...

But it was.

Hughes was utterly amazed.

He looked around and frowned when he didn't see Edward anywhere. He looked around before he stumbled across Elysia's room.

Hughes looked in and he blinked in shock at the picture he saw.

Elysia was curled up next to Edward, underneath her pink and purple covers, while Edward was on top of them, hugging Elysia to his body like she was a teddy bear.

Hughes grinned before disappearing for a moment. He reappeared seconds later with a camera in his hand. He quickly took a picture of the adorable scene, suddenly very glad he had the sense to leave a video camera in the living room.

Hey, just because he knew Edward would never intentionally harm Elysia, he wanted to have proof just in case Edward corrupted her. So he was a TEENY bit overprotective. He had every right to be! People would hurt his dear Elysia if he didn't protect her!

After hiding the camera so Edward wouldn't see it, he walked up to him and nudged the teen awake. Edward's eyes opened blearily and he looked up at Hughes as he slowly recognized his surroundings.

"Welcome home, Hughes." Edward whispered, disentangling himself from Elysia, who woke almost immediately.

Instantly, she was as hyperactive as ever.

"DADDY!" She squealed, tackling her father who laughed and spun her around.

"Hey sweetie, how are you? Was Ed a good babysitter?" He asked her happily, keeping an eye on Edward as Edward stretched the kinks out of his neck.

"The best!" Elysia squealed, hugging him tightly.

Edward blushed as he heard that and Hughes grinned. Ooh, the people at the office would never believe this! Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, was, according to his daughter, "The best babysitter ever!"

Now he only had to find out a way to get the video tape of him playing "Tea Party" with Elysia around the office...


End file.
